{"id":4768,"date":"2020-04-14T14:40:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T21:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/?p=4768"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:10:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T19:10:51","slug":"the-six-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/the-six-words\/","title":{"rendered":"The Six Words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original Publishing Date: April 2009<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Officer Training School (OTS) graduation and commissioning, I reported on December 17th to Bolling AFB, Washington, DC. After eleven years of teaching, including Assistant & Associate Professorships at Michigan State- and San Jose State Universities, I walked away from a promising academic career and returned to military service (I had served as an enlisted Army Reserve and National Guard bandsman from 1972-1978.) Although I loved teaching, I was ready to climb out of the slime of academic politics. I was thrilled when, on my first day at OTS, the Air Force asked me to raise my right and swear that I would not \u201cLie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate anyone who does.\u201d Thrilled? I was reborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Bankhead picked me up at National airport that snowy night then whisked me off to the Andrews Air Force Base Officer\u2019s Club where we watched the incredible Singing Sergeants perform. My entry into the Air Force was possible because Lowell Graham planted the seed of the idea, Mike nurtured it, and Col. Gabriel made it possible. Mike was gracious, enthusiastic, and very encouraging. I felt I had a made a great decision in joining the Air Force and Colonel Gabe\u2019s team. I was on my way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my first few months at Bolling, Colonel Gabriel generously gave me \u201cstick time\u201d with the Air Force Concert Band. They were incomparable, of course, but once I got my feet under me, I began to find areas I thought I could improve. With each rehearsal, I felt more and more confident that I could rise to their high level of expertise. Privately, I congratulated myself on becoming a professional conductor. Little did I know how much I had to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following fall, I joined Colonel Gabriel for a three-week Concert Band tour of the South. As Assistant Conductor, I was to be prepared to stand in for the Colonel should he become incapacitated (fat chance!). Every night, in mess dress uniform, I took my place in the stage right wing with scores and baton in reach, just in case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One night, at intermission, the band\u2019s principal Horn, Chief Master Sergeant Johnny Woody, found me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, LT. How about a beer tonight after the show?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not much of a beer drinker, but here was one of the band\u2019s legendary musicians asking ME, a newbie Second Lieutenant, to socialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh, sure, Chief!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat! Meet me at the bar in the lobby of the Hilton (where we were staying) at midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOK, Chief!\u201d (Note to young officers: ANY time a Chief asks you to step into his\/her \u201coffice\u201d\u2014no matter HOW they define \u201coffice\u201d–jump at the chance, even if the jumping MIGHT be by the Chief, into your byproducts.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At midnight I made my way to the bar. Rounding a corner, I found the booth in which Chief Woody was waiting\u2014along with three more of the band\u2019s senior Chiefs: Principle Clarinet Jim Murphy, Principle Saxophone Jim \u201cScotty\u201d Scot, and Principal Bassist and Concert Band Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, Fritz Wyss. Somehow, I didn\u2019t think this was going to be a social gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After pleasantries, Chief Wyss, spoke up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLT, thanks for coming. Let me get to the point. We want you to know that we think you’re a pretty good conductor\u201d (In my head, I was starting to feel like the legendary Michael Jackson doing the \u201cmoonwalk!\u201d Yeah! Alright!). The other Chiefs nodded. Then he continued\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we think YOU think you\u2019re a pretty good conductor!\u201d (Inside I\u2019m starting to feel like the convicted MJ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he wasn\u2019t finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you know what the guys the band are calling you behind your back?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shook my head, sullenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey call you \u2018The little professor\u2019.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy,\u201d I asked quietly. My blood was starting to boil. Then I thought of a large, East coast book chain by that name, but I wasn\u2019t making a connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, mostly, it\u2019s because when you take the podium, you talk about the form of the music; you talk about its history, you talk about its theory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I thought to myself. \u201cSo what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, LT, has it ever occurred to you that we\u2019ve played this music before? Has it ever occurred to you that we know that stuff? Has it ever occurred to you just how precious our rehearsal time is, and that we just don’t have the time to hear about all of this?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sat silently. My mind raced, yet I felt I was in slow motion. Mostly, I was embarrassed. I knew what the Chief was saying was true and that it had been obvious to everyone but me. Had I blown it with The USAF Band? Was my Air Force career going up in flames? Had I made an enormous mistake by walking away from academia? This was an \u201cacid bath,\u201d and I began to feel ill. Then the Chief continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, LT, we didn\u2019t ask you here tonight to give you a \u2018blanket party.\u2019 Well, maybe we did\u2026a little!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone laughed at that one, even me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo tell the truth, we wouldn\u2019t be sitting here with you, in the middle of the night, if we didn’t think you have talent and promise. So we have a suggestion for you: take page from Colonel Gabriel’s book. Have you noticed how well prepared he is for every rehearsal? Have you noticed how he knows EXACTLY what he wants when he steps on the podium? How he has quantified his concepts? For example, if he sees a quarter note with a dot under it, he\u2019s already decided whether that staccato note will be half value or quarter value? If it will be accented or not? And if it IS accented, HOW it will be accented\u2026with a sideways accent, a roof-top accent, or a wedge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d one of the other Chiefs added, \u201cthat he SHOWS us what he wants with his conducting, rather than tells us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo here\u2019s the deal, LT\u201d Chief Woody added, \u201cWe want you to rethink how you approach rehearsals. You don\u2019t have to know everything about every piece, but you DO need to know the basics so our rehearsals are productive–things like tempo, phrasing, style, and your sense of the architecture of the piece. Keep your high standards for pitch and color\u2014that\u2019s great–but don\u2019t stop to tell us every time we drop a note. WE know we chipped it. Telling us just wastes time, and what does it accomplish? Chances are, the next time we play that passage, we won\u2019t goof it again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you do these things, if you prepare well, if you know what you want, what you’re going to stop for and WHY, and if you SHOW us what you want, we will play for you. We\u2019ll watch you like a hawk and do our best to play what we SEE. And when we don\u2019t, it\u2019s because we don\u2019t understand your physical vocabulary. When that happens, please tell us what you want, but when you do, we ask that you use only six words: \u2018faster,\u2019 \u2018slower,\u2019 \u2018louder,\u2019 \u2018softer,\u2019 \u2018longer\u2019 and \u2018shorter.\u2019 That’s it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that WAS it. The meeting was over. Even though these guys had played a two-hour concert, had been on the road for two weeks, and were \u201croad-weary,\u201d they took time to mentor me. Using classic \u201cupward delegation,\u201d they put the responsibility for being prepared right where it belonged. I liken it to what I\u2019ve learned as a private pilot: \u201cIf you\u2019ve earned the right to fly the plane, you better know where you\u2019re going and how to get there successfully.\u201d I had been salvaged. I didn\u2019t sleep much that night, or much the next night as I pondered the lessons given to me by, probably, 160 collective years of rich, professional experience. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the third night, I resolved that I could\u2014and would–do what these great musicians had asked me to do. I did, and it worked. I prepared quantitatively (which forced me to think in detail about my interpretive decisions and to commit to them), and I limited my remarks in rehearsals to The Six Words. They kept their end of the deal, too. Our rehearsals became more efficient, we had more fun, and they gave me their music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I soon discovered that The Six Words also work in contexts outside The USAF Band. Musicians of every background\u2014including young students–appreciate and respond to this kind of preparation. I now believe that there is no better way to convey respect to a performer or to the composer than to do these things. This experience taught me one another valuable lesson: in the end, music cannot be TAKEN; it can only be given. The conductor can ask\u2014even demand\u2014but it\u2019s up to those who \u201cmake the sounds\u201d to ultimately decide how and to what degree they will respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years later, I was assigned to my first command at the Air Force Band of the Golden Gate, Travis AFB, CA. Unbeknownst to me, those four Chiefs (and other senior leaders of The USAF Concert Band) followed my career and watched to see how and what I did. Now and then, I\u2019d get a call or a note from one of them encouraging me. Sometimes, I still do. Overall, I think they\u2019re pleased. But how does one repay mentoring such as this? Other than trying to do what they taught me, I wrote a sincere and enthusiastic letter to each of them as they retired, thanking them for believing in me, caring enough to pat me on the back, and (figuratively) kicking me in the a–. Mostly, I thanked them for giving me my greatest conducting lesson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFaster, slower, louder, softer, longer, shorter\u201d: The Six Words that changed\u2014and vastly improved– my professional and musical life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original Publishing Date: April 2009 Following Officer Training School (OTS) graduation and commissioning, I reported on December 17th to Bolling AFB, Washington, DC. After eleven years of teaching, including Assistant & Associate Professorships at Michigan State- and San Jose State Universities, I walked away from a promising academic career and returned to military service (I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":7395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,206,241,25],"tags":[247,482,246,625,271,256],"class_list":["post-4768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-bandworld-archives","category-conducting","category-philosophy","tag-bandworld","tag-bandworld-archives","tag-bandworld-magazine","tag-carl-chevallard","tag-conducting","tag-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4777,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4768\/revisions\/4777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}